Geographical Knowledge and Cultural Concepts: A Preliminary Investigation of the Old Chinese Maps Collected in MPIWG

Zhejiang quantu 浙江全圖 (a complete map of Zhejiang Province), one of Daqing zhisheng tu大清直省圖(a group of maps of great Qing provinces), MPIWG

This project will provide a new insight into the old Chinese maps collected at the MPIWG , which proves their academic value as a source for deep research. "The old Chinese maps at the MPIWG include examples of adiministrative maps, local maps and millitary maps etc. in Qing dynasty. These exemplar provide the main data for exploring the history of Chinese cartography." Particularly significant maps in the collection, that have not yet been studied in detail, include "Daqing tianxia zhonghua gesheng Fuzhou xianting dili quantu 大清天下中華各省府州縣廳地理全圖 (a complete map of the geography of all provinces, prefectures, distracts, counties, and sub-prefectures in the central florescence of all under heaven of the great Qing)", "Daqing zhisheng tu 大清直省圖 (a group of maps of great Qing provinces)", and "Zhongguo Zhentu 中國陣圖 (album of illustrations of Chinese military formations)". The project investigates and makes detailed descriptions of these maps, to establish the scale, edition, contents, possible rendering time, and features, and traces possible links between each map in the collection. Among the maps, particular attention will be paid to the so-called Sino-centric world maps, the maps generally in use in the Chinese cultural and geographical area, which mainly mapped China and featured China as the centre of the world.